Things Fall Apart: Key Quotations
When you answer any question on Things Fall Apart, remember that the examiners are looking for you to support your points with references. You can evidence your knowledge of the text in two equally valid ways: both through references to it and direct quotations from it. Overall, you should aim to secure a strong knowledge of Achebe’s novel, as this is how you will be able to select references effectively.
The best way to revise for this question is to group evidence (or key quotes) by character or theme, so you can see the development of Achebe’s ideas or his characters. Below you will find definitions and analysis of the best quotations, arranged by the following themes:
Culture and identity
Tradition and gender
Fate and free will
Family bonds
Things Fall Apart: Key quotations: Culture and identity
Culture and identity
Chinua Achebe examines the effects of Western culture clashing with Igbo culture in a balanced portrayal of Nigerian life at the onset of British colonialism. Things Fall Apart portrays the challenges encountered by various members of an Igbo village who attempt to maintain their identity amid cultural change.
Meaning and context:
The narrator describes how the masked men who represent Igbo spirits take revenge upon a radical Christian convert, Enoch, who has disrespected them
The narrator explains how unmasking an egwugwu is “One of the greatest crimes a man could commit”:
In revenge, the village men burn Enoch’s church and compound
Analysis
Achebe portrays violence and confusion as cultures clash in the village when the missionaries convert many of the Igbo people to Christianity
The narrator describes the masked Igbo spirits in a simile that compares them to a “whirlwind”, suggesting their power as well as their fury:
This, coupled with the word “band”, portrays the spiritual men as one powerful and united force
Paired quotation
Meaning and context
When Obierika relates the massacre in Abame, he explains that an Oracle warned of destruction as “other white men were on their way”
Later, Obierika tells Okonkwo that the British men who now govern Umuofia have divided the Igbo people, and that their culture is crumbling
Analysis
Achebe uses metaphorical language that connotes to violent separation to present the destruction of the Igbo culture
The Oracle warns that the British would “break” their clan:
The verb signifies a shattering or fragmenting of culture and identity
Later, Obierika repeats this symbolic message as he describes a violent division by force, a “knife” that breaks them “apart”, linking to the novel’s title
Things Fall Apart: Key quotations: Tradition and gender
Tradition and gender
Chinua Achebe illustrates the danger of intolerant attitudes and discriminatory customs that oppress people. His tragic novel, Things Fall Apart, illustrates how a tyrannical leadership and traditional ideas of what success looks like can cause divisions in a family and a community.
Meaning and context
The narrator immediately portrays the protagonist, Okonkwo, in terms of his position as a popular and respected man in the Igbo village
As a wealthy farmer with a large family, he is seen as an accomplished man
Analysis
The introduction of Okonkwo presents the Igbo version of success at the time
The triple, listing his achievements, highlights the Igbo culture as a rural farming community with patriarchal values
Paired quotation
Meaning and context
Nwoye, Okonkwo’s son, is not the same as his father, and this creates barriers between them, especially as Nwoye wants to please him
But Nwoye does not like Okonkwo’s stories of “violence and bloodshed”
Okonkwo’s attitude to masculinity — he thinks the village’s responses to the British is too passive (“womanly”) — loses him his son and his clan’s respect
Analysis
Achebe illustrates divisions created by intolerant attitudes:
By equating masculinity to violence, Okonkwo alienates his son
Achebe’s narration portrays a sympathetic tragic hero: his thoughts reveal his love for his culture and tradition
Okonkwo’s hubris, and stereotypical views on gender, is presented as the fatal flaw that leads to his downfall
Things Fall Apart: Key quotations: Fate and free will
Fate and free will
Chinua Achebe’s tragedy considers the universal struggle of exerting one’s autonomy against external pressures. The novel illustrates how its protagonist, unable to alter his path, and under pressure from violent change, is inevitably doomed.
Meaning and context
Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, is described as a cursed man because he is “followed” by bad luck (“evil fortune”)
The narrator introduces the Igbo chi, one’s personal destiny, which can be overcome by saying yes: taking personal action
The Igbo custom not to bury outcasts is described here: Unoka had “no grave”
Analysis
Achebe foreshadows the similar fate that Okonkwo ironically shares with his father, a man who he spends his life criticising for his poor character
The adjective “evil”, describing bad luck, speaks to the Igbo belief that an individual can resist bad chi by behaving well, which equates to free will:
This portrays Unoka as accountable for his own failures
Paired quotation
Meaning and context
The narrator introduces Okonkwo as a well-respected member of the village because he says “yes” to his personal birth god (chi) and to his clan:
The connection to hard work describes the Igbo philosophy on fate and free will (that hard work and reflection can override one’s bad fortune)
When Okonkwo is exiled, he becomes despondent, and begins to think that it is not his destiny to be great
Analysis
Achebe’s tragedy follows a well-respected man who is in harmony with his destiny because his actions are good
His downfall comes when he submits to his weaknesses and blames his problems on fate or Igbo chi:
His description of being “cast out” of his home implies self-pity and lack of personal accountability
He describes himself as “like a fish” to illustrate his lack of belonging in Mbanta, and the sense that he is struggling to survive
Things Fall Apart: Key quotations: Family bonds
Family bonds
While Things Fall Apart highlights the significance of heritage and family, Achebe also explores the traditions and customs that alienate and cause division in family units.
Paired quotation
Meaning and context
The narrator tells readers that Okonkwo’s fatal flaw is his “fear” of becoming like his father
Okonkwo explains his attitude to Ikemefuna (whom he refers to as a son here):
He would prefer to have no son than one who does not meet his expectations
Analysis
Achebe reveals, ironically, that while Okonkwo believes he is the perfect example of a courageous man, he is, in fact, living in fear
Okonkwo’s intolerant position towards the boys in his care foreshadows the violence that leads to his murder of Ikemefuna and the loss of his own son
Meaning and context
Okonkwo speaks with the village men about the British men, showing his surprise at the Western family values
This illustrates the Igbo patriarchal system, and how much Okonkwo values it
Analysis
Achebe highlights how the clash of cultures when the colonists come to the villages extends to family values as well as religious values
Achebe uses colloquial language as Okonkwo expresses his surprise about some British “tribes” which highlights the alternative, indigenous perspective